Got a Great Story? Pitch it to us.

Tell us about your story, and why it’s a good fit for one of our podcasts

We’re always on the look-out for great storytellers.

Have a listen to our podcasts and if you think you have story that would make a great fit for one of our shows, pitch us. The pitch doesn’t need to be elaborate or long, but we need to get a sense of the story and who the central characters are going to be.

Send pitches to [email protected] Note in the subject line which show you think the pitch would be best suited to.

After you’ve sent us a pitch, here’s what you can expect:

We read all the pitches that come in, we promise.

We’ll get back you you after we’ve read your pitch. We get a lot, so it may take us 2-3 weeks.

If we want to move ahead and commission the story, or if we need some more information or need you to rethink the pitch, we’ll send you another email within a few days.

If you don’t hear back from us within 2-3 weeks, it means the story just isn’t right for us, or we might already have a similar story in production, or it doesn’t fit the mix of content we’re looking for right now.

If we’re interested in the pitch, we’ll ask you to prepare a short treatment.

The treatment is a couple of paragraphs and needs to give us a good sense of the shape of the story. We want to know things like…

What is the story focus?

How are you going to tell the story?

What’s the hook off the top that will keep people listening?

What are the big stakes: the obstacles and challenges that the characters face?

Where is the tension in the story?

What’s the payoff?

What is the reflection or lesson learned?

Once we green-light a treatment, we’ve engaged you to work on the story. We’ll assign a producer who will work with you through production. They’ll be your main point of contact.

Please note: before moving forward to production, we will require you to sign a contract outlining our working relationship, statement of work and rights ownership.

As well, we’ll get your direct deposit payment details so that when the work is done and invoiced, we can pay you quickly.

We also occasionally require freelancers for writing and tape synchs.

If you’re a freelance writer or would like to be put on our tape synch roster, please let us know!

Let’s Make Some Audio

Most of our segments move through the following steps:

Chase

Lining up your interviews and other story elements.

Interviews

Recorded in-person in the field with a digital recorder.

Scripting

Once you have your tape, you start to edit it down and shape the story. Edit the clips in whatever editing software you normally use, and reference the clips in your script. Most of our items have narration. Talk to your producer about style and format before you start writing.

Do I need to use waivers / consent forms?

Please check in with your producer. The answer varies on the podcast and client.

Story editing

We work in Google Docs. It makes sharing scripts easy so that you and your producer can go back and forth shaping the story and making changes to the script. Using Google Docs allows us to provide feedback directly in the script and share with other members of our team. Please do not submit scripts in Word or other formats.

Voice track

Once the script is finalized, you record your voice track. We usually don’t book studios for recording voice-tracks. We may set up a video or audio call so that we can direct your performance as you record it. In some cases, depending on show format or other production considerations, we may get someone else to perform the voice track for your item.

Editing / sound design

We’ve got great sound designers/editors on our team. They’ll work on the final mix of your item. How much you do and how much they do depends on your comfort level. Some freelancers deliver almost fully mixed items, others just deliver a rough assembly with their voice track and roughly edited clips.